UK Jack the Ripper ∙ London 1888, East End, in and around Whitechapel District UNSOLVED

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The Met Police is fighting a legal battle to keep files detailing the investigation into the notorious Jack the Ripper case secret - to maintain confidentiality for Victorian 'supergrasses'.

The documents are said to include four new suspects for the serial killings which terrorised Whitechapel in 1888 and have become one of the world's most infamous unsolved cases.

The historic ledgers have 36,000 entries detailing police interaction with informants between 1888 to 1912.
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more at Sunday Mail link above

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Trevor Marriott, a Ripper investigator and former murder squad detective, has spent three years attempting to obtain uncensored versions of the documents.
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Last week, Mr Marriott took Scotland Yard to a tribunal in a last-ditch attempt to see the journals – containing 36,000 entries – which he believes contain evidence which could finally unmask the world’s most famous serial killer.

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“These files should be made public at once,” [Marriott] said. “They are some of the most interesting records on the case I’ve come across. Some of the informants died more than 100 years ago so to *censor the *documents is absurd.”
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Det Supt Julian McKinney, head of Covert Operations at the Met, said: “An informant today, if they know in 100 years their identity will be given over, may not wish to co-operate with us.”

Interesting that they're still protective of the investigation-- it immediately makes me wonder if the perp was royalty of some kind. Who else would merit protection of their reputation 120+ years later?

Interesting that they're still protective of the investigation-- it immediately makes me wonder if the perp was royalty of some kind. Who else would merit protection of their reputation 120+ years later?

I was thinking exactly the same thing.

I hope I get to see these files in my lifetime. I think the Ripper was my first foray into crime mysteries.

I really do think that they must be protecting someone, and I'm not often for the royal family conspiracy theories, but this time...it's a case well over a century old. Who would still need protection at this point in time? Not the Ripper himself certainly, but his family? very likely, in my eyes.

ETA: Although there is the possibility that Scotland Yard is only protecting themselves, not wanting the world to see unknown amounts of screw-uppery...that's always possible. No one wants to be a laughing stock.

possibly if the case was solved, it would hurt tourism? i would imagine tours of whitechapel still make a bundle.
or...brits are very consious of privacy, i know, i married one LOL

Good point. My first thought was the same as others: they must be protecting a royal.

But then I thought how bureaucracies go to extremes in protecting themselves. The official who said releasing info even after a century might have a chilling effect on witness candor may just be that sort of bureaucrat.

possibly if the case was solved, it would hurt tourism? i would imagine tours of whitechapel still make a bundle.
or...brits are very consious of privacy, i know, i married one LOL

BBM...

They do...I was in London one New Years Eve several years ago and we decided to take the Jack the Ripper tour through the East End and Whitechapel area. The bus was packed! It was very eerie at the end of the tour to be in one of the pubs that existed back then. I remember sitting at the bar and drinking malt whisky, looking at all the grisly crime scene photos! It was definitely a memorable New Years Eve..lol.

As far as the crime itself, I've long believed it was a member of the royal family who was involved. There's just no other reason why they would keep those records secret all this time. JMO.